Thursday, May 6, 2010

Antidepressant Suicides: Antidepressants Can Kill

Some five years back, FDA had warned doctors to be cautious while prescribing antidepressants to children. About two years later, Wyeth, a pharmaceutical company, offered a similar warning to the doctors. These drugs, as researches have found out, may tend children to think about suicides. The number of Antidepressant Suicides among children has been phenomenally high. FDA�s waning was issued mainly to curb the rates of Antidepressant Suicides among children and adolescents.

Antidepressant Pills
For people going though depression, doctors often prescribe some common pills. However, FDA has warned that these drugs may lead to Antidepressant Suicides. Some of the most commonly prescribed pills are Prozac fluoxetine, Zoloft sertraline, Paxil paroxetine, Luvox fluvoxamine, Celexa citalopram, Lexapro escitalopram, Wellbutrin bupropion, Effexor venlafaxine, Serzone nefazodone, Remeron mirtazapine. FDA has appealed to pharmaceutical companies manufacturing all these drugs to issue a renewed suicide warning labels, on all these pills.

Facts
According to the FDA reports, in 2002, doctors wrote about 10 million outpatient subscriptions to adult patients. They prescribed pills, which according to FDA studies, should have had renewed warning labels. Doctors also prescribed same pills for about 8.1 million children between the age group of 12-17 and about 2.7 million prescriptions for children under 11 years of age. Studies have proved that these pills may have more adverse effects on children than on adults. Some of these pills should not be prescribed to children below 18 years of age at all, as per the study of FDA, as they might lead to Antidepressant Suicides.

Warning and Appeal
The FDA was told by the parents that antidepressants were the cause of their children�s death. Although it is not clear whether these deaths were actually Antidepressant Suicides, the FDA still appealed the pharmaceutical companies to issue a renewed warning on the labels of these drugs. Some have welcomed the stand of FDA on antidepressant pills, while others maintain that well-informed doctors and parents are the highest care a child could get.

Research and Findings
While it is not confirmed whether suicides among the children should be labeled as Antidepressant Suicides, researches in the University of Columbia have confirmed that children, who are on antidepressant pills, get suicidal thoughts more often than the kids who are on sugar pills. However, no child who was a part of the research committed suicide.
There is indeed a rising trend in what we all call Antidepressant Suicides. However, we can�t put antidepressants to blame. Parents should be more watchful and informed about their child�s hyperactiveness. This alone can prevent Antidepressant Suicides.